The brother of the man who was killed on Bloody Sunday said he hoped the court’s decision to overturn the decision to prosecute Private F would be a step closer to justice.
The Belfast High Court has overturned the Attorney General’s Office ruling on a charge of killing a former paratrooper in 1972 for the deaths of two people in Derry.
Speaking in Belfast, Chief Justice Sobhan McKegan said the PPS’s decision not to pursue prosecution had “crossed the line of irrationality”.
The PPS chief said the organization will need time to review the legal system.
PPS announced last year that it would end Private F’s indictment for the James Urey and William McKinney murders because the case could be dismissed in the context of a separate court ruling on admissibility of evidence, delaying another murder trial. Two military veterans.
Then the McKinney family began a court hearing to appeal the PPS decision.
Mickey, brother of William McKinney, told the Palestinian News Agency that he welcomed the court’s ruling and that the case can now proceed.
He said: In the case of Private F, the judge sent him again to review the circuit’s decision. We are happy with this.
“Let’s hope it continues and starts now.
I hope this is a step towards justice. This thing is so many years late, it’s ridiculous.
Let’s hope the cases start now and we’ll try him and get justice.”
Speaking on Wednesday, the chief justice said: “This is a rare case where we believe the decision needs to be overturned and reconsidered.”
He added: “We believe that the decision crosses the line of irrationality, where it simply does not fit, or in other words, it is an error of reasoning that robs the decision of reason.
“It turns out that it must remain up to PPS to reconsider its decision.
“There has already been a significant delay in the criminal trial, and therefore, it may be the quickest and most effective way to actually ask the district judge to make a decision on admissibility in the first instance.
The public’s confidence in the interests of justice is perhaps best served by a well-known court decision on this case.
“PPS will now have to decide on the next steps.”
However, the family received several weeks of bloody court reviews in protest of PPS decisions not to incite several veterans Jackie Wooks, 17, Michael Kelly, 17, John Young, 17, Michael McDaid, 20 and 41 due to die. Bernard McGuigan, father of six, was released from court.
The case was based on the argument that the soldiers’ statements in 1972 were inadmissible in any criminal court.
The chief justice said she did not believe there was a “legal error” in the PPS decisions.
He added: “(PPS) has found it acceptable that there is no reasonable prospect of admissibility of the evidence and in the absence of such evidence there is insufficient other evidence for a reasonable probability of indictment.”
Bloody Sunday was one of the darkest days in Northern Ireland’s history when British soldiers shot 13 civil rights protesters in London’s Bogside district.
On January 30, 1972, another man was shot dead by paratroopers four months later. Although many consider him the 14th victim of bloody week, his death was officially attributed to a non-surgical brain tumor.
Northern Ireland Attorney General Stephen Heron said: “Today’s District Court decision on PPS’s decision to stay proceedings against Private F recognized the complex and challenging legal issues facing prosecutors. In assessing the admissibility of soldiers’ statements. On a specific 1972 occasion.
“The Soldier F team involved in the indictment will need time to consider all the details of the written decision, where possible, and its impact on this litigation.
“We will inform the district judge and the parties directly involved in Soldier F’s trial as soon as possible.”
Heron added: “Today’s decision also confirms the original decision of the People’s Protection Fund to prosecute other soldiers who reported the events of Bloody Sunday in January 1972.
“I want to acknowledge the lingering pain and frustration of the families involved in the litigation and their broader campaign for truth and justice.
“It is important to work effectively with families and we are ready to do so.”
A lawyer representing the families of the victims of the bloody week said that Private F must now appear in court.
Attorney Kieran Shils, of Madden and Finucane, who represents several Bloody Sunday families, said, “We welcome the oath court’s decision to overturn PPS’ decision to end Soldier F’s trial with two heads. murder and five attempted murders.”
He added, “The People’s Protection Authority must now reconsider its decision, taking into account this court’s decision and the correct application of the principles and guidelines it provides today.
“We request that PPS immediately bring the trial of the Derry County Judge to Private F and secure his trial in Crown Court.
“Families continue to get justified in their long search for justice.
“We will now consider this long and difficult decision and see if there are more treatments available to families who will not be persecuted by any soldier.
Source: Belfastlive
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